Money Runs Red
by KAthetomboy
Summary: Robin is kidnapped in his civilian identity and has to be saved by his teammates. There is some small torture and blood mentioned, but it's not too bad (for my types of stories anyway) The chapters are pretty short, sorry about that
1. Chapter 1

I know that the chapters are really short but it's my first fanfic and it looked like a lot more writing on Wordpad, I write my stories before putting them up so anyone that reads them doesn't have to wait anyway, enjoy.

Chapter 1:

Dick sighed and glared at the clock, silently begging for time to speed up. It was the end of the day and he was stuck in his least favourite class - history. It wasn't the subject that he disliked but the teacher, : she had _loooong_ auburn hair tied into a plait, pale teal eyes and her mouth was in a permanent frown plus she absolutely HATES children. Dick had always wondered how someone like her could be allowed to be a teacher or why she had wanted to be one in the first place. So he sat patiently waiting for the bell while trying to zone her voice out. As soon as he heard the bell, he jumped up and bolted at the door along with the majority of the class.

Dick began his walk home, usually he would be picked up by Alfred or on a very rare occasion, Bruce, but today he had to walk because Bruce was occupied at work (as per usual) and Alfred was visiting a sick friend. As Dick was rounding a corner he was pulled in and felt a rag cover his mouth, he tried to scream but he couldn't and just before he passed out he heard a familiar sounding voice 'Shhhh, quiet kiddo, just relax'. He felt a surge of panic and then nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

When Dick woke he was tied to a metal chair in a small room, made of bricks and devode of windows. His wrists were tied behind the chair, his arms tied to the chair, his lower limbs tied in the same way. "Great" he muttered to himself and tried to undo the ropes holding him down. They were tied _really_ really well. He let out an annoyed sigh and gave up after about what he estimated to be 10 minutes. Then the door swung open with a loud creak and Dick looked up to see his captor. He was wearing a red scope on the right side of his face and had guns attached to his wrists, while he was swinging a metal pole around with a crazy glint in his left eye. Dick realized who it was immediately- Deadshot. 'But what does he want with me?' Dick wondered. His question was soon answered.

"Hello, Richard" Deadshot sneered.

"Hey, _Floyd_ , how's it goin?" Dick shot back.

Deadshot's smile faded and he held the metal bat menacingly,

"Listen, Brat I need a little money to skip town" but Dick cut him of there,

"So you decided to kidnap me to get to Bruce's money, oh yeah real original Floyd" Dick said with a roll his eyes. Definitely a bad decision he thought as Deadshot whacked Dick's shoulder with the bat so hard he fell to the ground. He let out a pained grunt and stared up at the villain,

"You know Bruce doesn't pay ransoms right?"

"Oh, he'll want to pay this one, trust me" Deadshot said and started beating Dick with the bat mercilessly, while someone else started setting up a camera.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Bruce was in the middle of a meeting when the TV's screen went fuzzy and returned to show a badly beaten child, Bruce (along with other people in the room) jumped up and immediately recognized him, it was Dick. Bruce's heart was leaping around in his chest as he stared at his bloodied and unconcious son tied to a chair (which was upright again). A man walked into the camera view and help Dick's head up while holding a gun to it. Bruce recognized him and many others in the room did too.

["Hello Gotham" Deadshot said in a dark voice

"This here is Richard Grayson, Bruce billionaires son, and if you have any intention for him to continue breathing, Bruce, you will hand me a million dollars, preferably in a nice briefcase by 8:00pm tomorrow, I will find a way to contact you to tell you where, see ya" he finsihed then kicked Dick over. Dick groaned a little but didn't appear to wake, then the camera turned off and the screen changed back to the documentary that had been on.]

Bruce was frozen in his spot and no-one knew what to do. Then Emily (Bruce's assistant/secretary) came in with a panicked expression

" , Commisioner Gordan is on the phone"

Bruce snapped out of his trance and rushed to the phone,

"Jim?" he asked clearly worried

"Bruce, I saw the tape"

"You did?"

"Yeah the whole of Gotham saw it"

"I'm on my way home now Jim"

"Okay I'll meet you there"

Bruce hung up and ran off to his car, driving as fast as he could and taking all the shortcuts he knew. When he arrived he entered the manor to find a worried Alfred in the living room staring at the TV which was now a blank screen. When he heard Bruce walk in, Alfred jumped up,

"Sir, I saw on the Television" he started but Bruce cut him off

"Yeah everyone in Gotham saw it" it wasn't hard to tell that Bruce was scared, at least for Alfred, most people would think he was handling it well but Alfred could tell how close to tears he really was. Then someone knocked on the door and Alfred went to let them in.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Dick had woken up and was staring around the room, his vision blurry, and tried to remember where he was. All the memories flooded back to him when his feeling returned. He tried to move and a small cry escaped his lips when the pain resurfaced.

"So the little brat's finally returned to the world of the living, eh?"

"Go to hell, Floyd" Dick spat angrily

"Oh, does the little circus brat have anger issues?"

Dick growled and shot him a bat-glare, Deadshot looked a little worried and backed off. Dick was starting to get really annoyed now, he was sick of being kidnapped for money, "Seriously can't poeple just get a job!?" he muttered angrily. Then a woman's voice spoke up,

"Yes, they can but it's not as much fun"

Dick recognized the voice and tilted his head up to see "Ms. Trevil, seriously!?, I know you hate me but don't you think this is a bit far?"

"Don't call me Ms. Trevil" she hissed "My name is Scythe" (pronounced SKYTHE)

"Scythe seriously?" Dick couldn't help but laugh although it was painful. Scythe stomped on his chest, and leaned down holding a large sharp Vorpal knife (like from Alice in wonderland) to the side of his face,

"Better name than Dick, hm?" she said while slowly dragging the tip of the knife down from his left temple to his neck creating a small trail of blood. Deadshot watched smuggly. Dick couldn't stop himself from making a remark about her weapon.

"Have you ever met Jervis Tetch?, cause I think you two would get along, you should invite him to tea party"

Scythe growled "Is it my time yet?" Scythe looked at Deadshot expectantly

"It sure is, Hon" Deadshot smiled wickedly

'Hon?' Dick wondered before realizing "Deadshots your boyfriend?" he asked Scythe incredulously. She laughed,

"Yes, what did you think we were, siblings?"

"Maybe", Dick said sarcasticly. Honestly he had just never thought anyone could have loved someone like Ms. Trevil, _'Scythe' Dick mentally corrected himself_ , not even a man like Deadshot.

Scythe's smile faded "You really need to learn how to shut your mouth kid" then she stabbed his thigh as hard as she could causing Dick to gasp in pain. The cold blade went as far into his leg as possible (so partially into the bone) then she twisted the blade around before pulling it out of his leg as painfully as she could make it. Scythe continued to torture Dick. Both Scythe and Deadshot were enjoying listening to his loud, pained screams fill the small room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Alfred expected to see Jim but was instead greeted by a panicked Wally West accompanied by an equally worried Barry Allen

"Uh, can we come in?" Barry asked

"Of course" Alfred allowed them in. The 3 walked into the living room where Bruce was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Barry walked over and put his hand on Bruce's shoulder,

"We saw it on the news" He said sadly. Bruce just nodded his head.

"Why aren't you in the cave looking, trying to find him?" Wally asked angrily. Barry shot him a look.

"Because the police are on their way now and I wouldn't have enough time to do anything before they get here" Bruce answered calmly.

"Well, what do we do?"

"I don't know"

Wally sat down on the lounge "You could ask the team to look into it"

"How am I supposed to give them a mission before the police arrive?"

"I'll just tell them about it"

"And how will you explain where Robin and I are?"

"I'll just say your dealing with a villain outside of Gotham"

"Alright then, but you do realize that you'll have to show them the tape"

"I know" Wally replied quietly then sped off into the batcave towards the zeta-beam. "Kid Flash B-03" the computers voice called out as he entered the beam.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"Kid Flash B-03" the computers voice called out at the cave. Artemis and Kaldur both looked towards the zeta-beam when they heard Kid Flash's name. They both noticed that his face was slightly paler and he seemed a little more frantic than usual.

"Where are the others?" He asked

"Megan and Conner are teaching Wolf tricks outside and I don't know where Robin is, why?" Artemis sounded concerned

"Can you get them, Batman's given us a mission" was all Wally said before speeding off to the mission room.

"I will get them, you can head to the mission room" Kaldur said. Artemis nodded and headed to the mission room. When she arrived she gasped at what she saw. There was a kid tied to a chair, he had been badly beaten and there was a fair bit of blood. Wally turned to her when he heard her gasp.

"I-I know that kid, he goes to my school"

"But he goes to Gotham Academy, don't you live in Star?"

Artemis realized her mistake and mentally kicked herself

"Uh..yeah but I got a scholarship"

"Oh.. uh okay"

"Wait how do you know what school he goes to?"

It was Wally's turn to mentally kick himself

"I-I..um...Batman told me" He stuttered

Artemis looked skeptical but let the subject drop

"So why isn't Batman here and where is Robin?" she questioned

"Their busy taking care of some assassin organisation or something out of town"

"So what are we doing?" Artemis glanced up at the image on the screen

"I'll explain when the others get here" Wally said and turned back to the screen. Artemis looked up at the image of the young boy she remembered her first day of school, when she met him.

'He walked over to her and took a photo of them, "We'll laugh about this someday" he said and then disappeared. "Uh, who was that?" Artemis asked Bette "Just a freshman, ignore him" Bette had answered'. Artemis felt terrible at the thought of someone so full of life and happiness being hurt like that.

-  
Megan and Conner were trying to teach Wolf how to roll over but he was too distracted by the food they were supposed to reward him with. Megan laughed as Wolf tackled Superboy and leapt after the food he had dropped. Superboy smiled and stood back up. Then Megan froze,

"Something feels wrong" she told Conner

"What is it?"

Then Kaldur appeared

"Batman has assigned us a mission and Kid Flash is waiting to explain it to us in the mission room"

Megan and Conner went to the mission room with Kaldur while Wolf and Sphere went to the living room.

When they entered they had the same reaction as Artemis, except they didn't recognize him.

Wally was facing the keyboard and Artemis was staring at the ground, both were silent.

"What is the mission?" Kaldur asked when everyone overcame the shock of seeing that image.

"We have to rescue this kid, his name is Dick Grayson" Wally told them then he pressed play and walked over to where they were standing to watch the tape.

[A man walked into the camera view and held Dick's head up while holding a gun to it.

"Hello Gotham" A man with a red scope covering his right eye said darkly

"This here is Richard Grayson, Bruce billionaires son, and if you have any intention for him to continue breathing, Bruce, you will hand me a million dollars, preferably in a nice briefcase by 8:00pm tomorrow, I will find a way to contact you to tell you where, see ya" he finsihed then kicked Dick over. Dick groaned a little but didn't appear to wake, then the camera switched off]

Artemis gasped when the man pushed Dick over, Megan was hugging Superboy and trying not to cry, Wally had a pained expression, Kaldur had his normal expression but the sadness in his eyes was evident and Conner was extremely angry, if he hadn't been holding Megan he probably would have broken something.

Wally walked back to the computer and told the team what ''Batman'' wanted them to do,

"Kaldur and Conner, Batman wants you to find out more about Deadshot-which is the man keeping Dick hostage"

they nodded than left the room

"Megan, Batman wants you to go to Bruce Wayne's house to both comfort him and get as much helpful information as possible" She walked out and went to the zeta-beam.

"And what are we doing?" Artemis asked

"We are studying the tape, to try and find out where he is being kept"

"Hmhm, Batman wasn't the one that assigned the jobs was he?"

Wally hesitated "No, he wasn't"

"So why are we the ones studying the tape?"

"Because I don't want to have to put the others through this"

"The real reason Wally?"

"Because we both know him"

"I go to his school, how do you know him?" Artemis demanded

Wally sighed "He- he's my best friend outside of the whole hero gig"

Artemis' expression softened immediately "So basically we have more of a motivation to find him"

"Yeah" Wally practically whispered

"Then let's get started" Artemis said and pushed Wally away from the keyboard.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

It hadn't even been a full minute after Wally left before Jim and a few other cops arrived. While Harvey Bullock and Renee Montoya started setting up the phone tracer in-case Deadshot decided to call, though Bruce thought that would be unlikely since Deadshot knew better than to call him after alerting the entire city that he had taken his son 'Or at least he should', Jim sat next to Bruce and looked a little confused when he saw Barry sitting on the opposite side,

"And who is this" He asked Bruce

"I'm Barry, a friend of Bruce's, I saw the footage and came over as fast as I could" Barry answered smiling weakly. Jim looked at Bruce for conformation,

"Barry is basically Dick's uncle" Bruce told him. "Have you found anything yet?"

"No sorry Bruce but we couldn't find anything in the video that was helpful and Deadshot didn't say when he would contact you"

Then the TV flickered once again showing Dick. He looked even worse now, he was covered in deep cuts and lots of blood was running down his left leg starting from his thigh. Barry gasped and felt a few tears fall down his face. The only other difference was that Dick was lying on the floor concious this time.

["Hello again everyone, I just wanted to give you a heads up on where I want you to deliver the money, Gotham docks pier 14 and just to remind you to hurry up" he pulled out his gun and shot Dick in his right shoulder just below the collarbone, Dick screamed loudly in pure agony "See ya round Brucey" Deadshot said merrily then it ended]

Bruce was truly terrified now. His heart broke when he heard Dick scream. He looked over at Barry who had a few tears falling down his face and a look of pure terror as did Bruce. The room was dead silent until Bruce stood up and grabbed the ransom money.

Jim stood up "No Bruce, your not paying the ransom, you still have 3 hours left"

"But Dick might not have that long"

"I'm sorry Bruce but I can't let you go yet, wait 1 hour"

"Fine, 1 hour"

Then Miss Martian walked into the room,

"Sorry if I am intruding but I was sent to ask you some questions"

"Who sent you?" Bruce asked her clearly angry

"Batman, Sir"

Bruce made a mental note to have a chat with Wally.

"Ask away"

-  
Megan had been let in by a british man, 'Probably the butler' Megan thought, that didn't seem at all shocked to see a green girl at his front door.

"Uh... Can I come in?" She asked

The butler nodded and opened the door for her.

Megan stood in the doorway to the living room taking in the scene around her, there were 3 people on the couch she only recognized 2 of them, Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon but the 3rd man looked the least traught 'I need to spend less time with Robin' she thought as she was about to enter the room the TV changed images.

Revealing a small boy laying on the floor covered in blood with a really bad stab wound on his left thigh still tied to the chair. Megan held back a gasp and felt worry take over her mind as she watched the tape.

["Hello again everyone, I just wanted to give you a heads up on where I want you to deliver the money, Gotham docks pier 14 and just to remind you to hurry up" he pulled out his gun and shot Dick in his right shoulder just below the collarbone, Dick screamed loudly in pure agony "See ya round Brucey" Deadshot said merrily then it ended]

When Megan re-gained her ability to move and breathe she walked into the room after half listening to Bruce and the Commissioner argue.

"Sorry if I am intruding but I was sent to ask you some questions"

"Who sent you?" Bruce asked her clearly angry

"Batman, Sir"

"Ask away"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Wally and Artemis were still trying to find something from the video.

"There's nothing" Artemis said de-jectedly

"There has to be something" Wally said in a panicked tone

"Yeah there should be but there ISN'T!" Artemis was starting to lose her temper

Wally was about to say something when the screen went fuzzy. Artemis jumped out of her seat, normally Wally would make fun of her for doing that but he was too busy staring at his friend's broken body.

["Hello again everyone, I just wanted to give you a heads up on where I want you to deliver the money, Gotham docks pier 14 and just to remind you to hurry up" he pulled out his gun and shot Dick in his right shoulder just below the collarbone, Dick screamed loudly in pure agony "See ya round Brucey" Deadshot said merrily then it ended]

"Oh God" Wally said and fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

Artemis was also crying though not as much as Wally was. She knelt down beside him and tried to comfort him, pulling him into a sideways hug.

"Come on Baywatch, we need to look over this tape, it might have something that can help us find him"

Wally nodded his head and Artemis helped him up giving him a sad smile. They walked over to the computer and Artemis tried to hone in any background noise that could help find where he was being held. There was a weird noise in the background. Artemis recorded the noise and put it through an identificator. The noise identified as the East Gotham Paper-Making factory. Wally took over from there searching up a map of East Gotham. They looked over the map looking at brick buildings that were far from people and inland near the Paper factory. They came up with 3 different buildings.

"Artemis can you go get the team?" Wally wiped his tears away

"Sure" then she walked out to retrieve the rest of the team

Wally started to sort who would go where and when he was finished the Kaldur and Conner walked in.

"What did you find out about Deadshot?" he asked them

"Nothing much, he's killed lots of people but he just shot them, hes never beaten anyone or cut them up before" Conner answered sadly.

"Ok, hey where's Megan?"

"She's on his way here now, she just finished with Wayne" Artemis told him.

Megan decided to walk in at that moment.

"Hey Megan, any helpful info?"

"No not really, just that he was walking home from school because he couldn't be picked up"

"So he chose a day when he knew he would be able to nab him, and he knew what route he would take, but how could he know that?"

"He must have been stalking him" Artemis stated

"Floyd doesn't do stalking" Wally replied

"And he doesn't do kidnapping and torturing either" Artemis shot back

Wally just glared at her and she looked down at the floor ashamed

"Sorry" she muttered

"There are three buildings where Dick could be being kept, Megan and Conner I want you two to go to this warehouse (he points to the largest building which is closest to the sea), Kaldur you take this one (he points to the smallest warehouse furthest from the Paper factory and in the woods), Artemis and I will take this one (he points to the last one which is the closest to the Paper factory and furthest from civilization),Everyone clear?"

Everyone nodded

"Then let's go"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

It was a gloomy building, dark on the outside, but Wally was more concerned for what might be inside.

"You ready?" Artemis asked

Wally nodded in response and they entered the warehouse. They walked through the warehouse, Artemis with her bow drawn, looking in every room finding nothing.

"He musn't be here" Wally said de-jectdly and sat down against the wall burying his face in his knees.

{Mental Link}

'Megan, Conner have you found anything?'-Artemis

'No, nothing so far'-Megan

'What about you Kaldur?'-Artemis

'I haven't found anything here either'-Kaldur

'As soon as you have finished searching the building return to the cave'-Artemis.

"You okay?" She asked Wally leaning down beside him

Before he could answer they heard a terrifying scream. Wally jumped up and sped off toward the sound, Artemis followed as fast as she could manage.

-  
When Wally arrived he was horrified at the sight before him. His best friend laid on the floor, tied to a chair, stab wounds, cuts and bruises littered his body. He was barely concious in a pool of blood, his eyes moved up towards Wally and he tried to speak but no words came out. Artemis ran in behind Wally, her eyes widened in shock when she saw her lifeless peer on the ground. Artemis looked away and spoke through the psychic link,

'We found him'-Artemis

'Is he alright?'-Megan

'He's breathing, but probably not for much longer'-Artemis

'We're on our way'-Conner

'Can you come get me on the way?'-Kaldur

When Artemis turned back around Wally had already untied Dick. He was trying to keep Dick awake and comforting him. Artemis was about to walk over and sit next to them when a woman stepped out of the shadows holding a very sharp looking knife with flowery patterns and dried blood staining the blade.

"So Batman's sending little kids to do his bidding now? What a shame, for you".


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Conner and Megan were going to collect Kaldur in the bio-ship. It took three minutes to get to his warehouse and another two minutes to get to Artemis and Wally's destination. Kaldur was in the back fixing up a medical bed and supplies for Dick.

-  
When they arrived they rushed into the warehouse

'Where are you two?'-Megan

'DOWN IN THE BASMENT'-Artemis yelled through the link

'And you might wanna hurry'-Wally added

The trio ran into the basement and were appalled by what they saw, a blood coated child lying on the floor attempting to get up and a lady holding a strange knife and Deadshot attacking their friends. The lady had already managed to give Artemis a few small cuts while Deadshot was still trying to get a clean shot of Wally. Kaldur helped Kid Flash with Deadshot while Conner helped take down the lady and Megan flew to Dick's side. The sight of all the blood and the amount of fear and pain radiating off the boy made her feel sick.

Soon the others had finished the two villains off and joined Megan's side next to Dick.

"We need to get him to the Bio-ship, now" Wally's voice was full of panic.

Megan nodded and levitated Dick, she flew him to the Bio-ship, and placed him on the medical bed. He groaned when she laid him onto the bed, still fighting to stay awake, Megan couldn't hold her tears back anymore. When the others boarded Megan steered the ship to cave and everyone else sat by Dick, who was now unconcious.

"Can't we go any faster!?" Wally demanded

"Without breaking down?, NO" Artemis turned her back to the team and wiped some tears away. No-one spoke for the rest of the trip. Wally was too busy trying to keep his best friend alive, Conner was doing his best not to lose control of his anger, Artemis was silently crying trying to forget about the dying boy, Kaldur was staring into space and biting his lower lip while Megan tried to push all their feelings out of her mind to keep control of the ship.

Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter and Green Arrow were waiting for the team to arrive. Kaldur, Wally and Artemis stepped out of the Bio-ship first then Conner walked out carrying Dick while Megan floated behind. When the league members saw Dick's lifeless looking body they all gasped (Discluding Red Tornado) and tried to battle thier tears, Green Arrow was the first to lose that battle and they streamed under his mask and down his face. He walked over to Conner, took Dick from his arms and they all went to the medical wing as fast as they could (without hurting Dick or waking him up).

While Martian Manhunter, Black Canary and Red Tornado tended to Dick's wounds, the Young Justice team sat in the living room waiting to be told about his condition and Wonder Woman left the room saying she had a call to make.

-  
Wonder Woman called Jim Gordon using a voice modifier to sound like Batman,

"Gordon"

"Batman?, what is it"

"I found the boy, his kidnappers are tied up at the Paper Factory, warehouse 2"

"You found him? Is he okay, where is he?"

"He's with the Justice League getting medical attention"

"Is it really that bad?" Gordon was clearly worried

Wonder Woman hesitated "As soon as the league finish patching him up he will be sent to a hospital, until then I don't know"

"Ok, Wait...Deadshot had a partner?"

"Yes he was working with a woman, I was too busy helping the boy to identify her"

"That's okay Batman, we'll handle them, just help Dick"

Wonder Woman ended the conversation there and called Bruce.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"It's almost been an hour and you haven't found anything, I am going to the Docks now" Bruce told Jim angrily. Before Jim could reply his phone rang.

"Batman?, what is it"

Barry and Bruce exchanged a confused look.

"You found him? Is he okay, where is he?" Barry walked over to Bruce and they both tried to hear the other end of the conversation.

"Justice League...attention"

"Is it really that bad?" the amount of worry in Jim's voice scared Bruce and Barry

"As soon as the league finish...will be sent... until then I don't know"

"Ok, wait...Deadshot had a partner?"

"Yes...a woman, I was too...to identify her"

"That's okay Batman, we'll handle them, just help Dick"

Jim put his phone away and explained what had happened,

"That was Batman, he found Dick"

"Is he..?"

"Batman was a bit cryptic about it, all i know is that he's with the Justice League"

Bruce went paler and had to sit back on the couch

"I'm sorry Bruce, but I don't know much else" Then he turned to his team "Batman found Dick, and the kidnappers are in warehouse 2 at the East Gotham Paper Factory, let's go"

All the police walked out to apprehend the two criminals. Then Bruce's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi Bruce, it's Diana"

"Diana!?, how is he?"

"Uh, heee's...stable for now" She replied hesitantly

"Where is he?"

"He's in the cave's medical wing, but we will hand him over to Gotham Private Hospital, to avoid suspicion"

"I'm on my way now"

"No point Bruce, we're handing him to the hospital soon and that would only make the team suspicious of you, your still supposed to be off fighting Ra's ninjas"

"Is that the lie that Wally came up with?"

"Yeah"

"Alright, fine"

"I'll make sure that the hospital calls when Dick arrives"

"Mmm hm" Bruce nodded and ended the call.

Barry tilted his head questioningly,

"Well?"

"He's fine right now, but we can't see him until we get a call from the hospital"

"The hospital?, I thought he was at the cave"

"He's being moved to the hospital to avoid suspicion mostly from the team"

"Oh, so what now?"

"Now we wait" Bruce sat down with a sigh.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

It was a long, antagonizing half hour before the hospital phoned Bruce.

"Mr. Wayne?" a male's voice asked

"Yes, that's me"

"I am sure you are aware of the fact that your son has been delivered to Gotham Private Hospital by Green Arrow"

"Yes I'm aware" _'Now at least'_

"Well he told us to call you after finding Dick a room"

"So I can come now?"

"Yes"

"Can I bring anyone with me?"

"Sure"

"I'm on my way now, thank you" Bruce hung up and grabbed his coat before turning to Barry,

"You coming?" he asked impatiently

Barry nodded and walked alongside Alfred to the car.

-  
It took 15 minutes to drive to the hospital (though it felt like a lifetime to Bruce). He parked the car and the trio leapt out of the car and promptly ran to reception, the young male receptionist recognized Bruce,

"Room 201" He told them

Bruce nodded a thank you and they all hurried to the elevator. Bruce took a deep breath preparing himself before he knocked on Room 201's door and a nurse opened the door quietly.

"Can we come in?"

The young nurse nodded her head solemnly opening the door wider, "He's asleep right now, the Justice League dealt with the more extensive damage, but he probably won't be able to walk on his left leg for a while and he'll need to be careful with his shoulder" she smiled sadly and scurried out of the room.

Bruce pushed Dick's onyx bangs away from his eyes and looked at his son's deathly pale face. He smiled slightly when he noticed that Dick was dressed in normal clothes (a black shirt with a stripe of blue down the right side and jeans,but he couldn't see the jeans due to the blanket) and remebered the first time Dick had been sent to hospital (He stacked his bike and broke his arm)

{' "No, no way, uh-uh I am not wearing hospital clothes" Dick refused stubbornly.

"Come on Dick, it's not like wearing it will kill you" Bruce told him gently

"It could! what if it's covered in germs" Dick shot back

Leslie sighed in the corner before walking over to them "If you would rather stay in your tattered clothes, that's fine" Bruce shot her an apologetic look. She proceeded to walk out. Bruce turned back to Dick,

"Dick, that was unnecessary" Dick turned his head away defiantly

"I don't trust hospitals"

"Why not?" Dick continued to look away from Bruce and remained silent. Bruce knew why.

"Is it because" He hesitated "Because they couldn't help your uncle?"

Dick tensed and closed his eyes while taking shaky breaths "Maybe" Bruce pulled him into a hug minding the cast

"I'm sorry" Bruce muttered to Dick who was hugging back with his left arm. Leslie walked back in smiling at the scene.

Leslie walked up to Dick and handed him some pyjamas (long black pants and a plain red shirt). She smiled warmly at him, Dick took the clothes gratefully and jumped of the bed, hurrying into the bathroom to change. It only took 30 seconds for Dick to emerge now in his pyjamas. Bruce and Leslie shared a look of confusion 'How did he manage to change so fast with a broken arm?'. Then he jumped back onto the bed and wriggled down. "Night Bruce" he said tiredly before yawning. Soon Dick fell asleep.'}

Bruce was jostled from his thoughts when he heard Dick mumble something. He leant down to hear it.

"Nici nu -i doare! Va rog! Lasa-i singuri! Va rog" (No don't hurt them! Please! Leave them alone! please). Bruce lifted his head back up quickly.

"He's having a nightmare" he told Alfred and Barry quietly. They all shared worried glances.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Wally was pacing the living room trying to block out the mental image of his dying friend and holding back his tears, Artemis had gone to her room because she was 'Bored' as she put it (but she just didn't want anyone to see her cry), Megan was solemnly baking cookies while Conner watched static and Kaldur had also retreated to his room. When Wonder Woman walked in Wally was at her side in a second firing questions.

"How-is-he,where-is-he,what's-happening,and-why-do-you-look-so-sad?" Wally demanded in one breath.

Wonder Woman blinked "He's fine right now, Green Arrow just took him to a hospital because we don't want any rumours going around or people to start thinking we will always be there to mend an injury"

Wally nodded slowly, taking all the information "You didn't answer my last question"

"Because I haven't seen such terrible injuries on a child since the last amazonian war"

"But he will be alright?"

"Given some time, yes"

Everyone present in the room were relived and the tension lifted slightly. Wonder Woman turned back to the door and blinked her tears away before leaving. Wally walked to the zeta-beam and entered with out saying a word.

"Kid Flash B-03" Megan and Conner looked confused, but just shrugged it off and continued with their previous activities.

-  
Artemis couldn't take waiting in the cave's living room anymore, she got up and went to leave, Wally stopped pacing when she stood.

"Where-are-you-going?"

"To my room"

"Why?"

"Bored" she shrugged then swiftly began the short journey to her room. She dove onto her bed, curled herself into a ball and felt tears stream down her face. But not all the tears were for Dick, she wished they were but seeing Dick like that had triggered some unwanted memories.

' "Come on little girl, you can do better than that" Sportsmaster told Jade. Jade leapt over the robot that was about to attack and stabbed it in the back with her Sai. Jade locked eyes with her father and glared at him, she was covered in small cuts

"Is this the kind of training your going to put Artemis through when she's old enough?"

"Course it is, I can't pick favourites now can I little girl"

Jade sighed and left the training room. Artemis watched horrified all the blood around her sister, the cuts may not have been harmful...but the blood'

Artemis shook herself from her thoughts "No" she muttered. She had only been 4 when that happened and Jade had been 8. Then there was her training when she turned five... "No stop it!" she told herself "It's all in the past, it's over, stop thinking about it!". She uncurled herself and walked over to her computer to find out more about Richard Grayson, she couldn't think of anything else to do and she still felt bad for ingnoring him all the time.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Wally zeta'd to the back alley phone booth in Gotham (now in civvies) and hailed a taxi.

"Gotham Private Hospital, please" He told the young taxi driver, she nodded her head. It didn't take long to get to the hospital 'well considering we drove, I could have gotten there in a matter of seconds' he thought.

"Thanks miss" he handed her the money

"Your welcome, and I hope whoever your visiting is alright" she smiled at him and he smiled back. Then he walked up to the receptionist, a young man,

"Richard Grayson?" He asked politely

"Room 201" The man replied without looking up

'Wow great security here, forget the guards you can't even get through the receptionist' Wally was tempted to say aloud but instead he just walked to the elevator and waited for it to come down. Soon he was standing just outside room 201. He knocked (knowing Bruce would be here by now) Barry was the one that answered  
"How is he?"  
"Physically or mentally?" Barry asked sadly

"He's having a nightmare, isn't he?" Barry nodded and let Wally in

"What took you so long?" Bruce asked him

"I took a taxi, I didn't feel like running, shouldn't we wake him up?"

"We tried to, but whatever he is experiencing, he's trapped in" Barry told him.

"And in what way did you try?"

"Shaking him, the usual way to wake someone from a nightmare"

Wally rolled his eyes and sat down next to his best friend, held his right hand and spoke to him.

"Hey Dick, listen to me, you are in a dream or nightmare, whatever, what's happening isn't real and you need to WAKE UP!, or you know at least stop dreaming"

Soon Dick stopped muttering and his eyes blinked open (incredibly slowly). Wally smiled like a chesire cat while the 3 men stared at Wally amazed.

"Br-Bruce?" Dick's voice was weak and dry, he faced his adoptive father.

"Yeah I'm here" Bruce told him and handed him an ice cube, which Dick took gratefully and he sat up grunting in pain at the sudden movement. Then he realized that Alfred, Barry and Wally were also in the room.

"Hey bro, how you doing?" Wally asked him

"Uh, for someone who just went through being beaten, chopped up and shot a few times, I think i'm good" Dick replied grinning

"A few times?, you were shot more than once!?" Bruce asked him shocked and concerned

"Well yeah, he's Deadshot he shoots people" Dick told him calmly

"You are scary traught with these things, dude" Wally stated

"Well i'm use to it" Dick shrugged smiling at the use of his word

"You shouldn't be" Bruce said staring him down, Dick glaring straight back

The other 3 in the room knew what would happen if they didn't break them off now.

"You were having a nightmare" Barry told Dick. His face paled

"Was I saying anything?"

"Yeah you were muttering things in Romanian, Wally woke you up"

Dick looked at his _'_ brother _'_ "Thanks"

"No problem Bro"

"So when can I leave?" Dick turned to Bruce

"Tomorrow, maybe"

"Maybe?"

"I'll have to ask the doctors"

Dick sighed and grumbled. The rooms other occupants smiled at each other 'He's gonna be fine'.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Artemis was scrolling throught the internet finding out as much as possible about Dick. He had some social media, not lots, just twitter, facebook and a select few others. There really wasn't much about him; Bruce Wayne's ward, super smart, good athlete, the Artemis stumbled apon and old newspaper article reading

High Flying Family Falls, Child Left Orphaned

Artemis was intrigued and clicked on it, she gasped when she saw the pictures, 2 acrobats, one male and one female were lying on the ground dressed in a green suit with a fancy G on their chests with blood pooled around them, another picture showed a young child wrapped in a blanket being consoled. His deep blue eyes, looking directly at the camera, were filled with pain and sorrow. Artemis felt her heart crumble when she realized that it was Dick. The kid she went to school with, that little bundle of happiness had lost his parents, watched them fall and die and now he had been kidnapped _again_ but this time he had also been tortured 'Which could have happened multiple times before' Artemis thought."How does that kid stay so asterous and whelmed all the time?" she asked aloud chuckling lightly when she realized what she had just said. She clicked on another newspaper article titled

Wayne Takes In Child

She scrolled through the article scanning it for important info;

Bruce Wayne has become the legal guardian of Richard Grayson, who's parents were killed 1 month ago during a circus act sabotaged by Anthony 'Tony' Zucco. Zucco remains in hiding. Grayson has been living at a juvenile detention centre for the last month where he was beaten by the other children. Artemis choked back a sob when she saw the photo of all his bruises especially when she saw the ones on his neck, because they weren't hand shaped, they were from a rope 'Did someone try to hang him, or was he just fed up?' she wondered. He definitely didn't seem suicidal. She smiled when she saw the photo of him smiling up at his new guardian who was smiling back.

Artemis heard a knock on her door and went to open it.

"Oh, Kaldur, do we have a mission?"

"No I just wanted to talk to somebody"

"Why me?"

"Because Wally left, Megan is busy and Conner isn't much of a talker, also your good company"

Artemis smiled and then Kaldur noticed her computer

"What are you doing?"

Artemis turned back to her computer "Just some research on Dick Grayson" she was about to close the tab when Kaldur walked over to it and started reading through.

"That poor kid, he has lost so much" Kaldur said having just finished reading the first article about his family's death

"Yeah" Artemis spoke softly

'That's not like Artemis' Kaldur thought concerned

"Are you alright?"

"Hmhm I'm fine" Artemis replied quickly

"Do you know him?"

"No, complete stranger"

"Artemis" Kaldur pressed and Artemis broke

"Alright, fine I know him, he goes to my school, he took a picture of us on my first day with no explanation and I've been ignoring his existence" Artemis sighed and sat on her bed, tears forming in her eyes. "I ignored him and now he might die, he could already be dead"

"Well you can't blame yourself"

"I'm not, I just wish I hadn't been so cold to him"

Kaldur put his arm around her shoulders "Everyone makes mistakes and he'll be fine, I'm sure"

Artemis leaned onto his shoulder "Thanks Kal" Artemis collected herself and stood up walking over to the computer, continuing her research about Dick.

"Wanna help?" she asked Kaldur

He smiled and walked over pulling a chair up next to Artemis.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

It was 9:30 pm and Leslie had ordered Dick to go to sleep, kicking Barry and Wally out in the process, leaving Dick and Bruce alone (Alfred is asleep in a chair).

"What happened in your nightmare?"

Dick hesitated "The same one that's been haunting me since I was 8"

 _'From what he was saying it didn't sound like his parents were falling'_ "Details?"

"No" Dick turned his head away

Bruce put his hand on his shoulder causing Dick to jump suddenly. He shifted nervously.

"What was that?" Bruce's words were lined with worry

"Nothing" Dick replied quickly

"Dick?"

Dick realized Bruce wouldn't stop asking 'til he had an answer

"I was just remembering something and you broke me out of my trance"

"What were you remembering"

"The mare" Dick whispered

"What really happened in it?, it wasn't just your parents death was it?"

Dick remained silent

"Dick, you can tell me"

"I-I saw, everyone was...dead, you, the team, the justice league, everyone I ever loved was..."

Bruce didn't want to ask but he had to "How did they die?"

Dick closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing "Zucco, Joker, Deathstroke and Two-Face captured and tortured them all and then filled the room with water, drowning everyone except Aqualad and Miss.M, they were locked in a seperate room and burnt to death after they watched everyone else drown and I couldn't do anything"

"All your greatest fears"

Dick nodded his azure eyes filling with tears. Bruce pulled him into a hug, Dick hugged him straight back, ignoring the pain and letting his tears fall freely. Eventually the two pulled away,

"You should get some sleep, chum"

Dick had always wondered where he got that nickname for him from, at first he thought it was stupid then it started to grow on him.

Dick wriggled back down into the blankets "Night Bru...uh Dad"  
Bruce looked up surprised "Goodnight, son" Dick smiled and was soon asleep. Bruce was about to go sleep himself when his phone vibrated on the table next to the bed. Bruce looked at the caller ID and answered,

"What is it Jim?"

"Forensics found a mind control chip in Deadshot's eye-scope, the design matches with the Mad Hatter's"

"So Deadshot wasn't in control of himself?"

"No, he doesn't remember what he did but he is genuinely sorry for it, as far as villains go, Deadshot's not so bad"

"What about the woman he worked with?" Bruce heard Jim take in a sharp breath of air "What, who is she?"

"She was Dick's history teacher"

"WHAT!" Bruce shout-whispered/growled

"Ms. Trevil though she keeps insisting we call her Scythe"

"Is she being mind-controlled?"  
"No, she was the one controlling Mad Hatter"

"By threatening him?"

"Yeah"

"So will you still arrest Mad Hatter?"

"Since he made the device, yes we are bringing him in now"

"What about Deadshot?"

"We are letting him go, though he doesn't think we should"

"He doesn't?"

"No but since he wasn't in control of himself we can't arrest him, he blames himself for what happened to Dick, even though he was under mind control, he can't help but feel responsible"

"Shouldn't you still arrest him for his previous crimes?"

"We haven't got enough evidence to arrest him for any past crimes we _think_ he commited"

"Fair enough" Bruce sighed "Thanks for telling me, Jim"

"Your welcome" Jim said ending the call.

Bruce turned to face his ''son'' who was still sleeping peacefully.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

After being forced to leave the hospital, Wally and Barry ran home.

"Hey uncle Barry?"

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Can I sleep at the cave tonight?"

"Sure, but why?"

"Cause I feel like it"

Barry shrugged is shoulders "Fine by me, might wanna run it by your parents though"

Wally sped into the lounge room emerging 10 seconds later and ran to the zeta-beam with a quick "See ya" to Barry.

It wasn't long until Wally had arrived at the cave.

"Hi guys" He announced happily to Megan and Conner before noticing the cookies "Ooh cookies" He ran up and grabbed 3.

"Wally" Megan complained

"I'm hungry" he whined

Megan smiled and let it go with a roll of her eyes. Wally continued down the hallway stopping at Artemis door,

"Hey Artie, you in there?" He asked knocking on her door

Artemis replied by opening the door and let Wally in.

"Hey Kaldur" Wally looked quizically at the two of them "What are you two doing?"

Artemis moved in front of her computer "Nothing"

Wally pushed her out of the way and looked at her computer and his face paled when he saw what they were looking at, Dick's parents lying dead on the ground with blood pooling around them, Dick's abraisons and other wounds from his month in the Juvenile Detention Centre and his comatose uncle, among other gory things from Dick's life. Artemis bit her lower lip, wondering if Wally would get mad. He turned to glare at them.

"Why are you looking at these pictures?"

"I wanted to find out more about Dick"

"So you stalk him on the internet!? And why's Kaldur here if _you_ wanted to stalk him?"

"Because I asked him to help me"

Wally turned to face Kaldur "And you didn't try to stop her?"

"No, What's so bad about looking at these photos anyway, we've seen worse in the field"

Anger was starting to take over Wally and he was shaking, he quickly left Artemis' room and went into his own, trying to collect his emotions. 'Why am I so upset?, it's not my family that died and i'm not the one who watched them fall' he sighed 'But it was my best friend that had to go through all that, which I suppose is just as bad'. He finished his mental conversation with himself and went to sleep.

-  
"Why is Wally so touchy about this?" Kaldur asked Artemis after Wally left.

Artemis sighed "I guess he doesn't like us snooping into his best friend's life"

"So Dick is Wally's best friend?"

"When he's not hero-ing, yeah"

"How did you find that out?"

"He told me, before the mission briefing"

"Oh, well it is late, I'm going to go to bed now, goodnight Artemis"

"Night Kaldur" Artemis flopped onto her bed and curled up to go to sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Dick was in his bed at home playing a playstation game (since he couldn't do much else) when Wally walked in,

"Ooh, Tomb Raider, cool! Can I play?" He asked while laughing

"Oh shut up Wally, I couldn't find any other games"

"Excuses" Wally sang

"Whatever" Dick paused the game and looked at Wally "What do you want?"

"I just came to see if you were all right"

"That's all?"

"Of course that's all! Your basically my little brother and I wanted to see that you were all right"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you can't walk very well and your incredibly bored"

"Fair point"

"Why don't you come to the cave?"

"Coz Bats said I can't"

"Yeah but that was 3 days ago"

"And I'm still not allowed to walk around"

"Well, I could just carry you to the mountain"

"I guess, but your the one that's asking"

"Why me?"

"Your idea" Dick smirked

Wally sighed and left the room to go ask, he was back in 20 seconds

"What took you so long?"

Wally tilted his head and gave Dick an annoyed stare "You ready?"

Dick nodded.

-  
"Kid Flash B-03...Robin B-01"

Everyone looked toward the zeta-tube hearing their friend's names being called out. When Robin came through the portal using crutches, the team all walked over, or flew in Megan's case. Megan hugged him

"Ow"

"Sorry Robin, I didn't-"

"It's fine Miss.M"

"What happened to you?" Artemis asked

"Just had a bad encounter with the League Of Assassins"

"Detail?"

"I got cut up pretty bad during the fight and then Ra's stabbed me in the thigh and decided to beat me to hurt Batman"

Everyone one gasped aside from Conner he just looked mad. Robin noticed how concerned they all were

"It's fine guys seriously, I've been through **_much_** worse" He laughed a little and walked over to the couch"

They all looked at Wally hoping to get more information from him. He just shrugged and walked over to sit next to Rob.

"Are you guys just gonna stand over there gaping like goldfish?" Robin asked them while on his laptop hacking into the Watchtower to see what the League were doing. The team returned to their previous activities.

"You are a really good liar" Wally remarked quietly

Dick smiled "Yeah well, it's not really a lie, just a change of characters"

"The best liars tell the truth" Wally switched on the TV and was flipping through the channels until he found a news report about Dick Grayson's kidnapping. He was about to change the channel but Robin asked him to leave it on.

"It has been revealed that the mastermind behind this tragic event (Dick rolled his eyes at that part 'Tragic event, like he cares') was actually Claire Trevil, Dick's history teacher, she had been planning this event for the past 2 years since Bruce Wayne fired her for violent tendencies, she coerced the Mad Hatter into making a mind control chip for Deadshot, so that he would take the blame, Dick is now at home recovering"

Wally side-glanced at Robin who looked annoyed and a little bit mad.

"Heard you guys were the ones that saved that kid, sorry I couldn't be there"

"I don't think you would've wanted to be there" Megan shivered

"Yeah it was not a sight for a 13 year old to see" Artemis stated

"Well I wasn't there, but I did see the videos" Robin continued hacking the Watchtower

"Batman let you watch the videos!?" Wally yelled

"He didn't want me to but he realized there was no point stopping me, expert hacker and all that"

Wally grabbed Robin

"Hey!" he yelled before they sped off away from the others and Robin was pushed onto a seat

"Dude, you seriously watched the video?, why would you do that!?"

"I just wanted to know what you saw and...I got bored?"

"You don't watch yourself getting tortured because your bored!"

"I wasn't getting tortured in the videos!"

"That's not the point!"

"I went through the pain, I still am going through the pain! I can take watching a video of a blood covered child!"

"But it's not just a blood covered child it's YOU!

"I don't see the difference"

"Well there is a pretty big difference"

"No there's really not, I've been tortured multiple times over as Robin and as Dick and the people I've seen tortured look the same as I do"

"Yeah but they don't watch themselves get tortured after it's happened if they even live through it!"

Robin stood up and pain shot through his left thigh but he ignored it and just shifted his weight

"Actually a lot of people do! And even if they didn't they would always remember what happened and the pain would return everytime they thought of it, you wouldn't know because you've never been tortured"

"Actually I have! and I didn't watch the video of it"

"I don't mean being starved or kicked a little bit, I mean I know what happens if you don't eat but your kidnapper didn't"

"You saw my kidnapping video as well?"

"Yes, but it was an accident! Barry was showing the video to Batman, I walked in when it started and...I still have nightmares about it, about what would've happened if you...died"

Robin looked away and noticed the team standing there

"Wow your stealth is definitely improving...Uh, how long have you been standing there?"

"Since you said "Actually a lot people do" Artemis informed him

'So not enough to figure out my identity' Robin thought after mentally reciting the converstaion

"When exactly did you get tortured Baywatch?" Artemis asked with concern laced in her voice

"3 years ago, I was kidnapped from the Central City Police Department by Jake Tyler because my uncle found out that he murdered his 14 year old daughter and 17 year old son, he supposed to be in jail for 40 years, but he escaped 27 years too early, he didn't know I needed food and I nearly died" Wally shot an accusing look at Robin, who was now sitting back in the chair looking sad and ashamed.

"So when you were 12" Kaldur stated

"Yeah"

"Which means you were 9 when you saw it" Kaldur was now looking at Robin

"I was 8 when I saw my parents die and first got beaten I can take watching things like that" Robin whispered to himself but Conner heard him

"Your parents are dead?" Conner whispered to Robin when everyone was questioning Wally about how he was kidnapped from the police department.

Robin looked up surprised not understanding what Conner said for about 5 seconds, then he realized

"Oooohh, you-you heard that?"

"I have super-hearing!, yes I heard it"

Robin stood up and walked away. Wally saw Robin walking away and ran to the zeta-tube blocking Robin from leaving.

"You can't stop me from leaving"

"I wasn't going to, I just want to remind you that if I don't take you Bats will have both our heads"

Robin grumbled "Well then can you take me back?"

"Sure, but first i'm sorry"

"Me too" they both smiled slightly

The team only just arrived in the room to see Wally leave

"Kid Flash B-03"

"Am I the only one that is _really_ confused here?" Artemis asked facing the team.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19:**  
The team all went back to doing what they were, Kaldur returned to reading a book about Atlantis and correcting it out loud but the others couldn't hear him because he was in the far corner on a blue beanbag, Megan was starting to bake a 3 layered chocolate cake, Conner walked down the halls to his room and Artemis followed him because she saw how sad and worried he looked. Artemis caught up with Conner before he entered his room.

"What do you want?" he asked annoyed

"What aren't you telling me and the team?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You were talking to Robin before he left and now you seem sad, so did he, why?"

Realizing he couldn't win with Artemis he let her in. She walked in and looked at him expectantly

"Well?"

"I heard Robin say that he was first beaten when he was 8 after he watched his parents die"

Artemis' eyes widened in shock

"Robin's an orphan?, I always thought Bats was his dad"

"Guess not"

Then Artemis' eyes looked back up wide again "When he was 8?"

"Yeah"

"I think I know who Robin really is"

Conner raised his eyebrow

"My room now" Artemis ordered

They both walked into Artemis' room. Artemis turned on her computer and showed Conner everything she had collected about Dick Grayson. Conner read through the information and looked at the pictures growing more and more concerned

"You think that this kid is Robin?"

"He looks just like Robin, he's super acrobatic, super-smart, we know his parents died and Robin wasn't there to save him but got the same types of injuries, I mean it was a brilliant cover story but"

"So should we ask him about it?"

Artemis called Robin through the comm link

"Hey Robin?"

"What is it Artie?"

"I just wanted to ask you something"

"What?"

"I'd rather you come to the cave so I can explain"

"Sure, I'll go ask Bats"

Artemis and Conner could hear Robin calling out

"Can I go back to the cave?"

"Why?" An annoyed voice called back

"Artemis wants to tell me something"

"Fine, where's Wally?"

Robin laughed quietly before answering "Can't find him on this page"

"Robin!"

"He went back home about an hour ago, using the zeta-beam located 3 metres away from where your sitting"

They could almost see the Bat-glare Robin would be recieving right now

"What are you working on anyway?"

"Aren't you supposed to be going now?"

"Right, OK Artemis i'm on my way"

Then Robin's cheery voice was replaced with silence.

"Well he should be here soon"

"Yeah I heard"

"Super-hearing right, I forgot"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

After leaving the cave Wally hung out with Dick playing a racing game (Which Dick won most of the time) until his uncle called at 6:34 pm and told him he had to come home for dinner. Dick continued racing against random oponents (Again he won the majority of the races). At 8:00 pm his comm link activated and Artemis voice came through

"Hey Robin?"

"What is it Artie?"

"I just wanted to ask you something"

"What?"

"I'd rather you come to the cave so I can explain"

"Sure, I'll go ask Bats"

Dick walked down into the bat-cave (using his crutches)

"Can I go back to the cave?"

"Why?" Batman continued to look through files

"Artemis wants to tell me something"

"Fine, where's Wally?"

Dick laughed quietly before answering "Can't find him on this page"

"Robin!"

"He went back home about an hour ago, using the zeta-beam located 3 metres away from where your sitting"

Batman turned to shoot him a Bat-glare which barely affected Dick when he first saw it, now it had no effect what-so-ever

"What are you working on anyway?"

"Aren't you supposed to be going now?"

"Right, OK Artemis i'm on my way" Dick turned the comm link off and went into the zeta-beam

"Robin B-01"

-  
"Robin B-01"

When Robin walked through the zeta-beam he was met with Artemis

"My room"

Robin followed managing to keep up with Artemis (which was actually easy for him, since he had to use crutches so often). Artemis opened her door and led him inside. The first thing that he noticed was that Conner was also in the room standing against the light blue-green wall then his eyes drifted to the computer and his face paled as the events of that night played through his head

'At first everything was going well, dad just caught mum and when it was my turn to jump, I realized something was wrong and before I could do anything, they fell. It only lasted a few seconds but it felt longer to me, my mum called my name but I could hardly hear her and then they impacted with the ground. I heard the sound of their bones breaking and saw the blood pool around them'

Dick was pulled out of his thoughts when Artemis tapped him on the shoulder

"Hm?" He asked her

"You were sort of in a trance, are you okay?"

"Yeah totally asterous" He glanced at the photos again "What did you wanna tell me?"

"It's more of a question really"

"Then ask away"

"Are you Dick Grayson?"

"Uhh..um...Oh Bats is so gonna kill me for this, Yeah i'm Dick Grayson"

Artemis and Conner shared a confused/surprised look

"So how did you find out?" Dick asked half-heartedly

"I started searching things up about Dick Grayson because I felt bad about completly ignoring your existence and curiosity got the better of me"

Dick could sense that she was holding some information about that back but didn't want to question her in front of Conner in-case he didn't already know.

"And then I asked Superboy what you two were talking about before you decided to leave, he mentioned that your parents died when you were 8 and I put together all the information"

"Good detective work, Artie" Dick told her proudly "Does anyone else know?"

"Just us two" Artemis answered

"And Wally" Conner added

"How did you find out that Wally knew?" Dick asked him

"I just kinda assumed, since you two are best friends"

"Well, assuming is also good detective work"

Artemis laughed and Conner smiled

"So are you going to tell the rest of the team?" Conner asked

"They deserve to know but i'll have to ask Bats first" Dick walked to the zeta-tube

"Well that went well" Conner said

Artemis turned to the computer looking over the pictures "What do you think happened when he came into the room, he was in a trance for almost 2 minutes and he looked so sad"

"He was probably remembering what happened that night" Conner told her before walking out.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Robin entered the batcave via zeta-beam and noticed that Batman was still looking through files, cowl down

"What are you doing?"

"Boring stuff that doesn't concern you"

"That's not really an answer"

"It's the one that i'm giving you"

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, did you want something?"

"Artemis and Conner figured out my identity"

Dick could almost feel the temperature drop

"And how did they figure that out?"

"Superboy heard me say that my parents died when I was 8 and Artemis had been doing research about my life and she noticed that Superboy seemed down, which is unusual for him, and when she asked why, he explained our very brief converstaion and she managed to put all the info together"

"She's a pretty good detective"

The temperature was slowly going back up

"And when did you mention that your parents died when you were 8"

Temperature dropping

"Wally dragged me away from the team to ask me why I watched the video Deadshot showed to the whole of Gotham and close outer cities, we argued a little bit and the team heard me mention Wally's kidnapping from 3 years ago, Kaldur did the math and was concerned that I had seen my best friend 3 quarters dead and being in pain when I was 9, I muttered extremely quietly that I my parents died and I was first beaten when I was 8, but Conner heard me"

"Why did you say that?"

"I didn't realize I said it out loud!"

"But why did you think that?"

"I just don't want to be treated like a kid, I can handle everything they can, I can handle more than they can!"

"That's not really an answer"

"It's the one i'm giving you"

"Listen Dick, the others know that you can handle it, I think they feel the need to protect you because your like their little brother"

"Or they just think i'm not old enough to take it"

"I doubt they think that, your the most experienced fighter and hacker in the group, you started crime fighting when you were 9, you've been in more pain than most people have to deal with in a lifetime and you still manage to be happy and just go on with life like none of it ever happened, the others all look up to you despite your size"

Dick laughed

"Thanks that almost makes me feel better...Anyway I wanted to know if i could tell Miss Martian and Aqualad my identity, since everyone else knows"

"Sure"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, if everyone else knows it's only fair, but not until morning"

"Why not?"

"You need to rest"

"I'm not tired"

"Tell that to me when you no longer need crutches"

Dick sighed "Fine, Goodnight Bruce"

"Night Dick"


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"I'm going now" Dick called out and before Bruce had time to stop him, he entered the batcave and walked into the zeta-beam.

"Robin B-01"

-  
"Robin B-01"

Robin found everyone in the living room and they were about to start watching Terminator

"Hey guys"

Everyone turned their head to see Robin standing there

"I wanted to uh tell you all something" he started to explain

Artemis and Conner were smiling a tiny bit, Wally looked extremely confused while Kaldur and Megan were intrigued, Robin was a very secretive person what could he be about to tell them?

"I wanted to tell you my identity"

Everyone except Artemis and Conner gasped

"DUde!" Wally half yelled

"It's okay I got Batman's permission, i'm not an idiot, well not a complete idiot anyway"

"Your also the only person i've met that isn't affected by Batman's wrath"

"Anyway as I was saying, this is actually a lot harder than it should be" Dick took a deep breath "I'm Dick Grayson" he blurted out. At first everyone was quiet then Megan spoke

"So it was you that we rescued? How couldn't we tell that it was you!?"

"Hey that's the whole point of wearing a mask, so you can't figure out who I am"

"But your our best friend our-our brother! We should be able to recognize you, the mask only covers your eyes!"

"Thank you for being so concerned but i'm fine really, and I have been through worse"

Kaldur decided to speak up now "How much worse?"

"Physically, when the Joker got me in my first year as Robin or when Two-Face beat me, or maybe the second time I was kidnapped that wasn't much fun, emotionally-" Dick hesitated "Emotionally, I don't know, when my parents died, after I was fired, or everynight when i'm plagued by nightmares, there's actually quite a lot" Dick laughed a little

The team looked horrified at what Robin had just told them, more horrified with how casually he said it.

"How can you talk about all of that like it's a normal thing?" Conner asked

"Because for me it is pretty normal"

"That should not be considered normal" Artemis spoke quietly

"Now you just sound like Bats" Dick sighed

"If Batman doesn't agree with this kind of lifestyle why does he let you continue?" Kaldur asked Dick

"Because the only way to stop me from living this like this is if I lose my limbs or my life, besides i'm usually quite capable of taking care of myself"

For a short while there was a silence which Dick broke

"So you guys up for an action movie marathon starting with the Terminator series?" Dick asked taking his sunglasses off and walking over to the couch. Everyone shared a glance and jumped onto the couch

"I'll get the snacks!" Wally called out

"You'd better get enough for us not just yourself!" Artemis yelled out as he zoomed away returning with lots of chocolates, popcorn, etc. It took about 7 trips.

"So everyone ready for an epic day of action films?" Wally asked and not waiting for an answer put Terminator on. Dick leaned back against the couch happy that he could walk around the cave without having to hide who he is.

"Hey Artie?"

"Yeah, Dick?"

"I just wanted to know what you weren't telling me earlier"

"What?"

"You said that you started searching things up about me because you felt bad about ignoring me, but you were holding something back, what was it?"

"I was also trying to forget something"

"What?"

"Just family stuff"

"I already know who your family is, but it doesn't matter, you are your own person, what was it?"

"My training which started when I was five, I nearly died, a lot"

Dick smiled "Well i'm glad you didn't die"

"And i'm glad you didn't either"

Conner smiled having heard their entire conversation.


End file.
